I left Buffalo Tap with 12 stains on my shirt (counted and verified), an arm scolded by projectile molten cheese and a smile on my face. We have been to Buffalo Tap plenty of times before and when we want a good burger and some wings without having to drive to Minneapolis or St Paul this is where we go.

We started with medium buffalo wings, these tasted good but weren’t spicy enough for Brandon on this night so we ended up ordering another order (stop it, there’s only 6 per order, I know what you’re thinking) but hot this time. Buffalo Tap’s wings are a decent size and have good flavor. The medium are fine for people who want the buffalo flavor wing just a hint of spice but the hot will do for people looking for some burn.

I got the El Diablo Juicy Lucy with fries; a Juicy Lucy for those who don’t know is a burger stuffed with cheese and cooked until the cheese inside is like lava, tasty face burning lava. The El Diablo is a 1/2 lbs. burger stuffed with pepper jack cheese and topped with jalapeno bacon, jalapeno peppers, pepper jack cheese and spicy BBQ sauce(I also added fried onions). Yep it is as awesome as it sounds. Now you are supposed to wait until it cools to eat it but come on who has that kind of self-control, certainly not this fat guy. Oh yes I paid for that impatience, sure I let it cool for a while, eating some fries and using them to catch some of the BBQ sauce, cheese and bacon that had fallen off the burger but I could not resist long. I picked up this burger and while taking my first bite a stream of molten cheese came spraying out all down my arm and shirt. According to my fellow Food Bro I made some sort of disappointing yelp as I gave up and put the burger down and went to cleaning off my arm. I didn’t really hurt but I think I am missing some hair. Once I let I cool a bit more I delved in, all the components on this burger work really well together to make what I believe is the best burger south of the river. The fries are standard crinkle cut fries, they are really just there to catch all the cheese oozing out of the Juicy Lucys and they do their job.

If you live in the suburbs south of the river you know how hard it is to find a good burger and wings around here so do yourself a favor and go to Buffalo Tap, get a Juicy Lucy and see how long you can wait. You may how ever want to bring a spare shirt or maybe get the normal burger version and skip the burns.

Brandon:

If we rated a restaurant based on how many stains end up on Brad’s shirt, Buffalo Tap would be in our top 5 for sure. Within minutes he had wing sauce, blue cheese, bbq sauce, grease, cheese, and slobber running down both sleeves, the front of his shirt, and dripping from his beard. On any other day it would have made me a little sick watching it but this was just comical.

Buffalo Tap seems to be forgotten a bit in the Juicy Lucy world. The cheese stuffed burger has become a Twin Cities staple that everyone seems to have an opinion over who does it best and Buffalo Tap is rarely mentioned. Buffalo tap offers 11 different Juicy Lucy’s that range from the classic American cheese filled to my personal favorite El Diablo which is filled with pepperjack cheese and topped with jalapeño bacon, peppers, and spicy bbq sauce.

On this particular day we started out with an order of medium heat buffalo wings. After not being pleased with the heat level we doubled up with an order of hot wings which scratched my need for heat itch. Unfortunately the wings came out with a slimy texture, which we all know makes for a shitty chicken wing. If you’ve ever made the mistake of ordering wings from Domino’s or Pizza Hut with your pizza know what I’m talking about. I have higher expectations from a place that boasts about their wings like Buffalo tap does.

I have had almost all of the Juicy Lucy burgers from buffalo tap and I have loved them all with the exception of the one I ordered on this particular day. I ordered the Parmesan Juicy Lucy Patty Melt. It all seemed like it would make sense. I love their parmesan encrusted bread, which they use for all of their melts, and combined with their Juicy Lucy burger how could this go wrong? First, my burger was engulfed in bread. I had to tear of about 1 1/2 inches of bread on all sides before I could get to my burger. Second, there were only a few onions on my Patty Melt. It felt more like I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich at times. It’s not a burger I will be ordering again. The Deviled Egg Potato Salad that I ordered for my side was excellent. I love creamy and eggy potato salad and if that’s your style you’ll love it too.

Overall, I left with a stain free shirt and a bit of disappointment. I have had Buffalo tap multiple times and have had great experiences there, unfortunately this was just not one of them. I still recommend this place if you are in the southern suburbs and are in the mood for a real deal Juicy Lucy. You really can’t go wrong with the El Diablo or the Old Wisconsin Juicy Lucy. Bring a bib and enjoy!